Lead Us Not into Temptation

                                       Sunsets are beautiful.  

                       However some are more beautiful.
                                        Living as God directs us,
                        which is actually the way we were created to live
                               makes us so much more beautiful
                             than we can possibly be any other way.

Did you ever have an itch
   that you knew you shouldn’t scratch?

Ever have words on the end of your tongue
   that you are dying to say but absolutely shouldn’t?

You know better.

You know you shouldn’t
   but you feel that you just must.

That’s temptation.

An old train station at Whitehall, NY.  Photo is in "sepia" color.

                          Same scene taken in "full" color.  
               God's love brings us color and life in the fullest.

I can resist some things with no problem
   but others are so difficult.

Sometimes the lines get blurred
   and I don’t realize that Satan is tempting
   and giving messages that it’s no big deal to give in.

Sometimes I spend a lot of time arguing with myself
and fail to go to the only One who can really help.

I must sound pathetic.

I feel that way at times.

Sometimes my life is in such a muddle.

I am a work in progress and am realizing
   that I will be till the day I die.

                   So many people go through life just getting by
                          having no idea what they are missing.

However, I am blessed with a Father
   who loves me in spite of all my shortcomings
   and they are so many.

If I knock, He answers.

If I seek, I will find Him.

If I ask, He always comes to my rescue.

I truly need so much help.

Fortunately, Our Father has an unlimited supply
   and He never tires of coming to my rescue.

I tear up when I think of how much
   God really loves me.

I will continue to pray the Lord’s Prayer
and when the temptations come,
I will stress the “lead us not into temptation” part and know He will come to my aid
and I will succeed because
   “with God all things are possible.”
         Matthew 19:26

     God will make even our gray days beautiful if we let him,
            if we only cooperate.  He has the "plan."
              We only have to hang on for the ride.



Commentary

Has Spring come?  It's way too early.  

But it feels and smells like spring.
Mud season is upon us.  It snuck up.  

Sin is like that.  It sneaks up when we least expect it.    We only have to let down our guard for a moment. 

It sneaks in when we are stressed, tired, busy
   and especially when we turn our eyes from God
   for just an instant.

God knows we are vulnerable.
He knows we will make lots of mistakes and commit lots of sins.
However He loves us so much that He sent
His only Son to pay for our mistakes and sins.
Our Father wants us to spend eternity
   with Him in paradise.  

We only have to turn to God,
   acknowledge that we were wrong
   and ask for forgiveness.
   He will give it freely as many times
   as we ask for it.  

With God it is perpetually Spring.  

We make our messes and He turns them into beauty.
He made us out of dust
   and He makes us into His beautiful children -
   if we only let Him.  

Will you reach out, take His loving hand
   and hang on for the ride?  

I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11

            How long will it be till we start to see the colors of spring?

Springtime Battles

Muddy, muddy, gush, gush
As my feet go push, push
Across the soft and wet, wet ground

Mud tries hard to suck me down
Tries to take my shoes and keep me
But I stand firm and keep on going
Shoes stay on but mud is showing
Remnants of my springtime battle
With that soft and gushy ground

Snow in places still is showing
As my feet do keep on going
Across the muddy, gushy ground

My destination soon I'm reaching
As my feet continue breaching
Springtime muddy, wet, wet ground

I look back and see my journey
Footprints rapidly are learning
Power of the soft and gushy ground

How amazing is the power
Of the mud that makes us cower
When we wage our springtime battles
With the soft and muddy ground

Commit everything you do to the LORD.
Trust him, and he will help you.  
   Psalm 37:5  New Living Translation

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Knapps Station Community Church 

My church has many ministries and activities.
It sponsors a Girls Club that is held every other Sunday from 12:30 to 2:30 pm.  It is for girls ages 8-14.  They do not have to attend Knapps Station Church to participate.  There are always at least 2 female leaders present at each meeting.  The girls cook, do crafts, sew, play games, do plays and have great fellowship.  There is no charge for the girls to participate.  They learn and have fun in a Christian setting.  The next meeting will be Sunday March 4, 2017 at 12:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall at Knapps Station Church.  All are welcomed!

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Draw Near To God  is a popular post from my friend Jean Oathout's blogpost "Treasures in Christ."  Her emphasis is praying.
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Learning to Listen Well is the 2-17-2017 blog post from my friend Jane Ault.  She discusses and gives a great example of the value of listening well - especially to God. She gives terrific ideas of how to improve your listening to God skills in your prayer life.

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Voice of the Martyrs

Raise a prayer force for Christian prisoners

Marat Niyazaliev

Yklas Kabduakasov

Yuri Pak

Zhao Weiliang

Dr. Kiflu Gebremeskel

Asia Bibi

Alimujiang Yimiti

Ebrahim Firouzi

Imran Ghafur

Hassan Abduraheem

Haile Nayzgi

Kidane Weldou

Lacheng Ren

Petr Jasek

Yang Hua

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Blessing:
May our Loving Father bless you with a great      appreciation for the beauty He has created. 
No matter what the weather brings you, may you feel  the warmth of His mighty love.
And may you be greatly blessed in the knowledge    that He is always anxiously waiting for you -
 that He will never leave you or forsake you -
 NO MATTER WHAT!
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All photos taken by Debbie and Tim McEwen
  unless otherwise noted- used with permission

All bible reference from the NIV
   unless otherwise noted

If you are interested,
   you can click on the Blog Archive 

  dates on the top right side of this post
  to connect to previous blog posts

I would love to hear from you either on the
   comment section of this blog post
   or through my email 

   debbieamcewen@gmail.com

I post every other Saturday 

The next post will be March 11, 2017

May God bless you greatly until we meet again.

       We had a flock of 13 robins
          on our lawn last week.
    Are they trying to tell us Spring is here?

Praise You Lord for All Your Creation

Praise you Lord for the beauty that is always right in front of us.  
This is Lake Colby across from Saranac Lake Hospital.  
An overcast day had been predicted. 
God gave us a beautiful day to visit the doctor in Lake Placid.

Praise You Lord for the stars and moon
   that light our nights
   and bring our time of blessed sleep

Praise You for the sun that lights
   and warms our days so we can marvel
   in the glory of Your mighty hands

Praise You for the hills and mountains,

                Whiteface Mountain Lake Placid, NY

   for the rivers and streams

                     Eel Weir near Black Lake, NY

   that fill our lives with animals, fish, birds,

                             White tail deer

               A groundhog who makes his home under our shed.

                       A blue heron at Black Lake, NY

                  

   trees, flowers and bountiful foods for us 

Monarch butterfly on a Zinnia

                   Flowering crab apple tree in my back yard.
   to enjoy, to nourish our bodies and our souls

Praise You for the oceans filled with endless fish
   and amazing creatures.
   The seas are vast and deep
   like Your amazing love.

       On the shore of the St. Lawrence River near Massena, NY
           The sun shines on the water like God's love shines on us

                      My husband Tim with Rev. Dave Tulloch 
                       and the large mouth bass they caught.

Praise You for the four seasons
   that bring us variety and allow nature to rest,
   revive, grow, mature and be fruitful.        
   Your creation never ceases to amaze me
   with its variety and beauty

Near West Potsdam, NY

Ice storm Feb. 2016  Plumb Brook Road Norfolk, NY

Spring on the banks of the St. Lawrence River near Massena, NY

The trees are anxiously awaiting the coming of Spring
just as our souls are anxiously awaiting the touch of God.

                             River near Santa Clara, NY

                         Canada geese families at Black Lake, NY

                                       Summer wildflowers

                                  From bridge near Brushton, NY

                                Route 11 after Malone, NY

                                    Mown hay field near Lisbon, NY

Praise You for the rain and snow
   that bring life-giving water
   to our lives and our environment

                              Bank of frozen Black Lake, NY

 Praise You for all of nature that shouts Your praise         saying “The Almighty Creator and Lord of all,
    the Great I Am, made me. 
    Look at the beauty and infinite creativity
    of His loving hands.”

Praise You Loving Father for making me,
   “for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   Your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.” 
          Psalm 139:14

   The details of Your creation are infinite.
   No photograph has sufficient pixels to capture
       all the details.
   No painter can begin to duplicate the Master.

Praise you Lord for the wondrous majesty
   that is You!

Praise You for Your incredible love
   that caused You to call all creation
   into existence” to create mankind
   just a little lower than the angels,
   and crown him with glory and honor.” 
        Psalm 8:5.

Blessed be Your most holy name.  Amen


Commentary:

Look to the Lord, keep your eyes on Him.  
There is so much turmoil in the news right now.
It is so upsetting, so distracting.

Satan is working overtime.
He's polarizing us, dividing us.
He is taking our eyes off God.  

We must stand together in this
United States of America
to solve our problems and we must turn to God
for the solutions of these problems.
We cannot solve them on our own.

Our Loving Almighty Father can solve ANYTHING! And He will.  "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
   2Chronicles 7:14

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Knapps Station Community Church 

Roberts Wesleyan College Wind Ensemble
Monday Feb. 20, 2017    7pm    
Free Concert
Directed by Dr. Paul Shewan
at Knapp Station Community Church
3035 County Route 47
Norwood, NY  13668       353-5093

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Voice of the Martyrs

I invite you to check out this link to find out what Christians in some countries suffer just because they believe.  We have no idea how fortunate we are. Please pray for our less fortunate brothers and sisters. 
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Give God Time To Answer

I heartily recommend this new blog post by my friend Jean Oathout.  It reminds us to keep praying for those things that are really important to us.  

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What Do You Need To Be Intentional?
Jane Ault's new blog post gives great advice on keeping focus in life, something I always need help with. 

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Book Reviews

 
Dirty Faith by David Z. Nowell

Do you feel that God is calling you to do more than go to church on Sunday, give your offering and "follow the rules?"  This book makes one think seriously about what it means to be a Christian and to do it the way Christ lived.  Great "food for thought."


Arms Open Wide by Sherri Gragg

Do you like a good story?  I do and this book takes well known Bible passages about Jesus and His followers and makes them into short stories.  These stories help us to better understand the Bible passages. 


The Lost Letters of Pergamum by Bruce W. Longenecker

This is a fictional set of letters between the apostle Luke and a Roman nobleman named Antipas.  The historical background gives us much insight into the horrible conditions that the early Christians lived in. It also gives incredible insight into the power of living as a real Christian and how that causes lives to be transformed.

Blessing

May you be greatly blessed as you see the magnificent beauty that our Loving Father has created for us.
May you always look to our Loving Father for guidance through the turmoil that life is throwing at all of us. Remember...God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5
And may your days be filled with the knowledge that your Loving Father deliberately chose you and loves you so much that even the hairs on your head are numbered and He knows that number so very well.

All photos taken by Debbie and Tim McEwen unless otherwise noted- 

  used with permission

All bible reference from the NIV unless otherwise noted

If you are interested, you can click on the Blog Archive 

  dates on the top right side of this post to connect 

  to previous blog posts

I would love to hear from you either on the      

  comment section of this blog post
  or through my email  

  debbieamcewen@gmail.com

I post every other Saturday 

The next post will be February 25, 2017

May God bless you greatly until we meet again.

And Happy Valentine's Day!

   Pictures of the 2017 Lake Placid Winter Festival Ice Castle taken 2-8-2017